Women’s lives dramatically changed in the 1950s with men coming back from wars and taking their jobs back. Many women wanted to keep their jobs but with the sudden abundance of men there was no need for women anymore. Because of this many women started staying home and the suburban house wife was born (“1950’s – Women’s roles,” n.d.). Women stayed home and became mothers of the baby boomers. The women stayed home and lived to make their husbands happy, to do housework, and to take care of the kids.
Many of the girls who started attending college in the 1950s ended up dropping out of college in order to marry the men coming back from the wars (“1950’s – Women’s roles,” n.d.). On average, women were getting married younger than ever before (“1950’s – Women’s roles,” n.d.). The women that didn’t drop out of college took classes that would help them with their lives as housewives such as interior decorating and family finances (“American Experience | The Pill | People & Events,” n.d.). A common joke of the time was that women were only going to college to get a M.R.S. Degree meaning they went to school to get husbands or to be better wives (“American Experience | The Pill | People & Events,” n.d.). Not only was dropping out and starting a family encouraged, there were negative consequences for those that didn’t conform. Any woman that defied the norms and wasn’t married by her early twenties was called an “old maid” meaning she would probably never be married (“American Experience | The Pill | People & Events,” n.d.). Those that financially did not need jobs but just wanted them were considered selfish for putting their desires first before their children’s needs.
